It had to be said — Third Young Master Ji's performance in this battle had truly stunned the Seven Great Emperors.
In past battles at the Martial Tower and competitions for the Young Master Rankings, there had been those who succeeded in challenging the rankings. But most of those victories owed their success to a variety of fortunate accidents.
To truly, thoroughly suppress a direct descendant of a Great Emperor in actual combat — that was exceedingly rare.
Third Young Master Ji had always enjoyed a certain degree of renown, but in the eyes of the Seven Great Emperors, there had always been that sliver of a gap between him and their direct heirs.
Yet now, everyone could see it — Third Young Master Ji had been steadily suppressing Gu Zhenshan throughout the fight.
Gu Zhenshan's composure had clearly been shaken to its core. After a bitter struggle, he had ultimately fallen to Third Young Master Ji.
Just like that, the first genius to succeed in challenging the Young Master Rankings was officially born.
Third Young Master Ji had replaced Gu Zhenshan as the twenty-first ranked genius on the Young Master Rankings. As for Gu Zhenshan, he was struck from the list entirely.
Third Young Master Ji's successful challenge sent shockwaves crashing through the Glazed Royal City, and filled the Panlong Clan Master with delight — his aged face positively radiant.
In recent years, the Panlong Great Clan had kept a low profile due to the Clan Master's dwindling lifespan, enduring all manner of criticism and doubt.
There had even been a time when the Royal Court Clan had grown aggressive, poised at any moment to supplant the Panlong Great Clan entirely.
Fortunately, thanks to Dan King Zhen's arrival and a series of fortunate coincidences, the Royal Court Clan had dug its own grave and suddenly collapsed — giving the Panlong Great Clan a much-needed reprieve.
After that, Dan King Zhen had employed certain techniques on the Panlong Clan Master, temporarily halting the deterioration of his cultivation and stabilizing the Great Clan's situation.
Still, the criticisms aimed at the Panlong Great Clan had never truly ceased — until this very moment. Third Young Master Ji's victory had swept away the air of decline, restored the Panlong Great Clan's fighting spirit, and displayed its true might.
The Panlong Clan Master understood better than anyone that with this single victory, the Panlong Great Clan's position was now secured. Their plan to ascend to the status of the Eighth Great Emperor was now ready in every respect.
The rest depended on himself — whether he could achieve enlightenment, break through to the Great Emperor realm, and elevate the Panlong Great Clan to the pinnacle of imperial power in one decisive stroke.
Third Young Master Ji's rise to fame in a single battle left many other ambitious Great Clans feeling a deep sense of powerlessness. They had all assumed the Panlong Great Clan was a setting sun, no longer worthy of concern. Now it was clear — the foundation of the Panlong Great Clan as the foremost among them had never been mere empty reputation.
A successful challenge of the Young Master Rankings meant Third Young Master Ji would formally enter the sights of the Seven Great Emperors, standing shoulder to shoulder with their direct descendants.
The weight of that achievement was incomparable to anything the young geniuses of the Genius Rankings could boast.
In an instant, the entire Glazed Royal City was thrown into an uproar. The various factions under the Panlong Great Clan's banner were overjoyed, their spirits soaring.
As subordinates of the Panlong Great Clan over these years, they too had endured tremendous pressure. Now, looking back, every bit of it had been worth it.
Because the Panlong Great Clan had finally revealed its true fangs — finally bared the teeth of the dragon.
With Third Young Master Ji's successful challenge complete, it was now the turn of the second-ranked genius on the Genius Rankings — Mie Chenzi — to make his challenge.
However, because of Third Young Master Ji's success, the opponent Mie Chenzi would face had shifted to the genius ranked twentieth on the Young Master Rankings.
Just as everyone speculated whether Mie Chenzi would follow in Third Young Master Ji's footsteps and become yet another challenger to succeed, Mie Chenzi abruptly announced that he was forfeiting his challenge.
The moment this news broke, the Glazed Royal City erupted in astonishment. No one had expected that Mie Chenzi would give up.
After all, in the earlier battles on the Genius Rankings, Mie Chenzi had ultimately conceded of his own volition, narrowly losing the contest for the top spot to Dan King Zhen.
But his combat strength and his potential as a genius were already well known to all.
Many experts even believed Mie Chenzi possessed more than enough power to challenge the Young Master Rankings — that his probability of success was even higher than Third Young Master Ji's.
Now that Third Young Master Ji had succeeded, what reason could Mie Chenzi possibly have for not competing?
Had his battle against Dan King Zhen left him disheartened — his fighting spirit completely drained? Or had some other reason caused him to abandon the challenge?
Jiang Chen watched Mie Chenzi step down from the challenge, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Secretly, he sighed with regret. By the look of things, Mie Chenzi had decided to back out entirely. That meant Jiang Chen's hopes of finding an excuse to deal with him had vanished for good.
Mie Chenzi paid no heed to the chorus of jeers from below. He descended the challenge platform and disappeared into the crowd.
Jiang Chen desperately wanted to investigate further, but circumstances wouldn't allow it — because with Mie Chenzi's forfeiture, it was now his turn to challenge the Young Master Rankings.
The genius ranked twentieth on the Young Master Rankings hailed from under Great Emperor Canghai's banner. His name was Zhuang Jie.
"Brother, be careful with this Zhuang Jie," said Tian Shao gravely. "He possesses an Innate Water Spirit Body and a Wind Spirit Body. His cultivation combines the vastness and depth of water with the sharpness and swiftness of wind. He's far more difficult to deal with than Gu Zhenshan."